Battle of The Anime Bad-Asses

Like Fight Club, there are some unspoken rules to being a bad-ass in anime.

• The first rule of being a bad-ass: A bad-ass does not purposely try to be a bad-ass. A bad-ass is simply a bad-ass. Period.
• Second: A bad-ass does what he wants, when he wants and how he wants. He follows his own path, lives by his own rules and stands by his own decisions.
• Third: A bad-ass must have the ability to kick anyone's ass, without as much as breaking a sweat, and still look amazing doing it.
• Fourth: A bad-ass gets shit done, fearlessly and confidently, and does it in a really cool way.
• Fifth: A bad-ass NEVER gives up. A bad-ass can take down anyone who crosses him, without even thinking about it. If he has a goal in mind, he won't stop until it's achieved, even while being badly injured, near death or dead.

So, with this in mind, in my opinion, the following characters are some of the best bad-asses in the anime industry.

Please note: SPOILER ALERT - this article contains MANY spoilers. This list is in no particular order and is part of an ongoing series.

Juuzou Suzuya - Tokyo Ghoul

With his child-like personality, severe mental instability and his ability to kick serious ass, this pretty little psycho/Ghoul Investigator is one hell of a bad-ass. At nineteen, he's a violent combat sadomasochist that happily marches to the beat of his own drum. His actions are eccentric and unpredictable, and he'll single-handedly confront any opponent head-on, no matter how dangerous they are, without any concern for his, or anyone else's, well-being.

Juuzou's backstory is definitely "the" contributing factor to his character's personality. He was kidnapped and raised by a sadistic female Ghoul who horrifically tortured him to the point where he's insensitive to pain. The abuse was so gruesome, I won't even try to elaborate on it. For this reason, he lacks the most basic social skills and morals, and is unable to comprehend emotions like sympathy or grief. He basically doesn't care if the people around him get hurt or die, but would happily contribute to the cause. When he's not off in his own world, he's a violent psychopath, so much it even scares the shit out of his fellow Investigators. To sum it up, he's basically a ticking time bomb that can't wait to blow.

His fighting skills are unbelievable. There's no denying that he's an incredible fighter for his age and size. He easily slaughters entire rooms of ghouls with an assortment of firearms, knives, scythes, and cleavers. He may have a childish and playful personality but he holds very violent and brutal tendencies where he'll lash out at any opponent and kill them in the most brutal and inhumane ways. Hunting and killing ghouls is nothing but a fun game for him, and, as shown in one scene, he actually becomes disappointed when his opponent dies too quickly because he can't play with him anymore.

While our cute, little anti-hero is batshit crazy and extremely violent, you can't help but love him. He's just an all-around, awesome character.

There is one scene in particular that completely nails the whole bad-ass thing for me. In his first combat operation, Juuzou steals the Commanders "beloved" motorcycle, uses it to jump into a building and takes down an entire snipers' nest by himself in mere seconds, all while smiling, laughing and having a grand ole' time! His whimsical, yet, psychotic personality, along with his fighting skills, all come together in this scene, giving you a clear view of his character and how bad-ass he really is.

Levi Ackerman - Attack on Titan (Shingeki no Kyojin)

Attack on Titan is chock-full of bad-ass characters, but none quite compare to humanity's strongest soldier.

Levi, or rather, Captain Levi, is the squad leader of the Special Operations Squad within the Scout Regiment/Survey Corps. He's a tiny, 5'3" Titan-killing machine, a kick-ass soldier, and a respectable leader. As for his personality, um..., let's just say it matches the dark tone of the series very well.

Levi's character is fascinating in many ways, but, in my opinion, his personality and emotional state is what makes him rise above the rest. And no, that wasn't a short joke.

(I suggest watching the OVA - A Choice with No Regrets, which tells his backstory. It really explains a lot about his character. Be warned though, it's a real tear jerker.)

He's an intimidating, rude, arrogant, sarcastic, unemotional asshole, but think about it. Would you rather have him as a leader or some idiot coward? Would you trust him with your life? It's obvious that there's a lot more to him. He's undergone so much pain throughout the series, yet he's still able to put aside his emotions, keep his composure as a leader and do what he has to do to get the job done. He needs to remain a strong character for the others to look up to and follow. It takes a lot of bad-assness (if that's a word), to go on, day after day, trying to convince yourself and the other soldiers, that your comrades didn't die in vain, that their deaths meant something and contributed to the cause of saving humanity, when in reality it didn't. It's admirable to see someone keep it together for the greater good, when you know damn well their insides are being torn apart in despair, as when he asked soldiers to throw the bodies of his deceased comrades out of a wagon, one being someone he deeply cared about, to lighten the load so they could outrun approaching Titans. He would appear to be a cold-hearted prick, but in reality, as a leader, it was a choice he had to make in order to save their lives. It was the right choice.

Screw transforming into a Titan, this tiny wonder basically transforms into a Beyblade when he fights. His use of the ODM gear and swords is amazing. It's pretty bad-ass that he taught himself how to use the gear before he was even affiliated with the Scouts - again, watch the OVA. He has his own way of holding his swords and doesn't follow the conventional sword yielding method of the Scouts. This gives him his own efficient and unique style when killing Titans. It's pretty impressive to watch him take down Titans single-handedly. He has some jaw-dropping battles that are absolutely amazing.

The creator of the manga and anime, Hajime Isayama, states that Levi's character seems to be the most dispassionate person, but is actually the most emotional. Putting his strength as a soldier aside, this is clearly what makes him a pure bad-ass.

Vegeta - Dragon Ball Z / Dragon Ball Super

You can't spell bad-ass without Vegeta. He's the Prince of all Saiyans, the upper crust of Saiyan society, destined to achieve the legendary status of Super Saiyan and become the most powerful warrior in the universe. Well... not quite... but not entirely untrue, as his character evolves. He's rather arrogant, has an inflated sense of superiority and pretty much is convinced he's "the shit".

At the start of DBZ, Vegeta was a cold-blooded warrior and killer who didn't care about anyone and was pretty much pissed... at everyone... all the time. But, when you think about it, the guy had a lot of pent-up aggression. His father was killed, his planet and all the Saiyans on it were destroyed by Frieza. He was the last royal of his kind and was made to serve as expendable labor in the Frieza Force, thus having his warrior race treated as a joke. He is the god-damn Prince of all Saiyans, and Saiyans weren't meant to be bullied, they were meant to kick ass! Hell, I'd be pissed off all the time too.

Then, imagine finding a long lost member of your race, a low-class warrior, who had a happy, casual life, didn't have to bust ass all the time and was stronger than you without really trying too hard. Not to mention, he's probably a foot taller too. He reached Super Saiyan status way before you did and he even killed Frieza, the guy that screwed up your entire life before you were able to enact your revenge. He even disrespects his heritage by not using his Saiyan name, Kakarot. On Earth, he's known as Goku. I'd be like, "What the hell is this shit?" Right? Of course, you're going to be a little jealous, especially if everything he does is better than you. That's just the way it is. But does Vegeta fall to his knees and give up? No. He doesn't. Saiyan's are a proud warrior race. So, instead of groveling, he trains, and trains, and trains some more, to become stronger and better. He fights many battles against different foes and kicks major ass, and even though Goku always beats him to the punch, he still never gives up. He leaves the fight more determined than ever to become stronger, even after being severely injured or practically dead.

Throughout the series, Vegeta evolves from a villain, to an antagonist, and then to an anti-hero whose only goal is to "fight and defeat Kakarot." He even settles down on Earth and starts a family, actually caring about others and not just himself. He becomes socially tolerable of Goku, they even become friends and fight foes together, but still with the understanding that one day Vegeta will surpass Goku in power. He never loses that goal.

The Buu Saga is a must-see. This part of the series shows the evolution of Vegeta's character perfectly. It also has some of "the best" speeches about Saiyan pride, ever. I won't go into too much detail about this saga, not only because it would be a HUGE spoiler, but because it's really something you should watch yourself. Vegeta's Final Atonement is probably one of the best episodes in the entire Dragon Ball series or any series for that matter.

Vegeta's character is absolute proof that you don't always have to be #1 to be bad-ass. You can kick ass, lose and still be the better person. Pick your ass up and don't forget what you believe in. His pride and determination is what makes him so awesome.

If there are any characters that deserve the title of "bad-ass," it's these three. It's important to note that the rules don't apply to physical strength only. While the characters on this list do kick ass, and lots of it, they also meet the requirements through their engaging stories, interesting personalities, powerful character development and the ways they've overcome their obstacles. That's a hell of a lot of bad-assness to me.